Zephaniah 3:17

I have been studying the Prophetic books of the Bible and came across this really neat verse: "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." I get this picture of a Father's love for His children. He rejoices over us with singing just as a mother sings over her baby to soothe and comfort him/her. I can't help but relate the great delight I take in my kids to the delight that God takes in me...not that I've earned it, but that He just does it. It's very reassuring that the One Who created the whole universe feels that way about me.

Jule got his first tooth last night. He wouldn't let me see it, but I could feel it with my finger. He still woke up last night at 2:30, so I'm not sure how long it may be before the other one comes in...probably not long. He was in his Jumparoo last night, and I could smell that he pooped, but I waited until I finished eating to change him...big mistake. It was up his back and down the front of his legs to his knees. The outfit was so bad that I just threw it away. Noly was very interested in watching the whole thing. I made her stand back so she wouldn't get into the dirty diaper, but she wanted to see it so bad. Kevin bought her pull-ups last night so she can go potty on her own but not have too big of a mess when she doesn't make it. I wonder how her day in pull-ups went?

He Finally Did It

Jule finally rolled from back to tummy...once...last night! Why is this significant? It lets us stay asleep at night! We have been having to go in to turn him over in the middle of the night when he rolls to his back but wants his tummy, sometimes up to 5 times in a night. Soon, he'll be proficient at it, which means we need to take the coffee table out of the living room until he's walking well. I think Noly was about 18 months before we brought it back into the house. When she was learning to crawl, she got a goose egg from it, and we removed it immediately.

His first tooth should be in any day now. He's been working on it for a long time, but it hasn't come through yet. Brenda gave him a puff yesterday, and he gagged on it and threw up everywhere. I guess he's not ready for something like that yet. We try about once a week, but he always seems to gag on it. He is completely in love with the thought of food though!

Odds & Ends

So, potty training is not really going very well. We are having Noly keep a diaper on and just taking her to the potty regularly. I got very tired of cleaning poop out of underwear!

Jule is insanely fussy and has been since Tuesday. Poor Brenda...he's waking up the entire house of kids, so our little Jule has become "The Upstairs Baby." That's where Brenda puts loud babies that upset the other kids, in their upstairs bedroom over the garage. When he wakes up from his 20-minute naps, he is screaming way too loud. Noly has been VERY whiney and cries at the drop of a hat in the past few days, and I finally figured out that he is waking her up several times a night just like he's waking us up. Last night, we put a box fan in her room on high, and she finally woke up happy and rested. How can this one little guy disturb an entire household's sleep? He IS very, very loud like his daddy and very, very determined like his mommy.

Last night, I let him cry it out. This was good and bad. He lasted about an hour. He fell asleep around 7:50 and woke up around 8 PM. He cried until 9 PM. Then, he stopped crying and looked all over his room. I could see that his sheet was wet from tears and snot, so I went up and changed his diaper and fixed his bedding. He started smiling at me from ear to ear and was so happy to be up? I have no idea....this didn't make sense. Since he was awake, I put him on a blanket on our bed next to me. He was happy but then threw up from all of the sinus drainage. I had to then suction his nose, and he started laughing. I was able to video it, but I still don't understand. He's been spitting up fountains this week, so I'm wondering if his Prevacid dosage needs to be increased since his weight has skyrocketed. I emailed Dr. C, so we'll see.

For all the agony they put us through, these two are such a blessing. They will never cease to amuse and entertain us.

Beautiful Tinkerbell Undies

So, last night, Noly announced that she wanted to wear her new Tinkerbell undies. I told her she could only wear them without a diaper, and she agreed. She was able to go about a half hour with just undies on and did not wet them, but I switched her to a diaper when Whitney brought the boys to play with her. I was afraid she would get too excited and forget that she didn't have a diaper on and pee all over. Today, she has school and then is going to Memaw's house, so we won't start until tomorrow. What a day Brenda is going to have! Maybe she really won't go in her undies? I have no idea.

I'm singing this weekend, and I'm guessing Kevin will put her in a diaper while he has both kids. I don't think he can keep up with Jule and Noly in training. I think he and Libby are taking the kids to the park or somewhere like that while I'm gone on Saturday. It sounds so nice to be alone...well, kind-of alone.

I heard yesterday that a friend's husband was laid off yesterday. They are unsuccessfully renting one house while living in their new house. I don't know how they are going to do it. The economy keeps spiraling downward, so we are on high alert. We are trying to have the credit cards paid off by March, and my car will be paid off by July 2010. That will just leave the mortgage and student loans. I just hope my job is secure enough. I think it is, but can we ever be certain of these things? At least I'm certain that "I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed to him against that day."

The Time Has Come...The Time is Now...

When you say that to Noly, she finishes the sentence with "Marvin K. Mooney, will you please go now." It's one of her favorite books. But in this instance, I am talking about it being time for Noly to use the potty. I was talking to Brenda after dropping Noly off from school, and she has been using the potty for Brenda. So, we are going to put her in undies at the end of the week and get her trained. I think the only way it will work is to take her out of diapers and pull-ups completely, so that's what we're going to try...except for naptime and overnight. I think she will freak out when she wets herself and won't do it very many times before she learns to use the potty. Oh, our poor floors! Maybe I can keep her on the tile?

Happy 2009

Our New Year was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing! Kevin stayed home with the kids on New Year's Eve because I had to work. When I got home at 4, his mom was there and mentioned that his sister would be alone for the evening. So, we gave her a call, and she and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was excellent! Jule was difficult for Kevin to get down, and we're not sure if he was just missing me or teething or what.

I had the kids yesterday, and the day was fine. Jule was pretty good, and he even let me clean up the house from Kevin's disaster the day before. Noly took a long nap, and we even had to wake her up to go to the Fipps' for a present exchange. We had a nice time with Rob, Trish, Maggie, Madeline & Robbie. Then, we brought all of Grandma & Grandpa's presents home to open. It was crazy when we got home. Noly had an absolute blast opening the numerous presents. Jule had been happy when we started, but then he started wailing. I finally discovered that he was afraid of the wrapping paper. No kidding...he screamed only when we unwrapped. I'm not sure if it was the sound or the look of it all, but once the paper was gone, he was happy again for awhile.

Today, I'm at work, and there are only 3 people on my hall. It's nice to have such a quiet day!